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In an article published in JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association), the authors “reviewed the benefits and limitations of 7 strategies to help patients afford prescription drugs”. International online pharmacies are one of them, described as “a last resort for patients in need of brand-name drugs who lack affordable domestic options”. In the USA, according to a survey around 2,3 million people personally import prescription medicines from abroad because of the high prices of medications and the flaws in the health insurance system.
According to this article published in Health Affairs in October 2024, researchers found out that over a period a period from 1982 to 2024 “low- and middle-income countries experienced substantial delays in accessing novel essential medicines”. One of the reasons is that pharmaceutical companies tend to prioritize more lucrative high-income markets. Another reason is that there can be delays in regulatory approval processes.
According to a report by MSF Access Campaign and Resolve to Save Lives, “generic hypertension medicine prices vary substantially across LMICs, with medicines in some countries costing 40 times more than the estimated cost-based generic price”. “Despite being recommended as the standard by WHO , Single-Pill Combinations are often unavailable or unaffordable to patients”.